Painful Love
by puzzles357
Summary: Just a lil fanfiction. It has excitment, tears, pain AND romance! Read it! (You know you want to)!
1. December Days

The full bright moon reflected off of the sparkling waters of the lake. Heavy mist drifted lazily in front of the white orb, obstructing it from view. Leafless and still trees firmly stood, dotting the Hogwarts grounds.  
  
Lily Evans was sitting on the window seat in her dormitory, staring absentmindedly out of the window. Her back was throbbing against the stone wall, her knees breathtakingly cold against the December pane of glass; but she didn't care.  
  
No, this sixteen year old girl had other matters on her mind. Her bright red hair hung almost halfway down her back; her pale skin gave a startling contrast against the grey nightdress she was wearing.  
  
Lily wondered, deep in thought. Where had her sixth year gone? Already she was in her fourth month of the school year, when it had just seemed like last week she had been enjoying the sorting, eager for the year to begin. Lily had not had many surprises after that, apart from the fact that the teachers had been piling on the homework, when they had just taken their OWLs last year.  
  
She had become a prefect again - her parents were delighted - and she had helped organize the Halloween feast, but other than that, nothing had happened. Soon days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and Lily now realized she was almost out of Hogwarts.  
  
A soft Purr-row? disrupted the silence. Lily glanced over, and saw her cat Sheba walking towards her, tail held high.  
  
"Hello Sheba. You wouldn't have any surprises for me, would you?" Lily whispered. Sheba ignored Lily's voice and jumped up on the window ledge, staring out at the grounds.  
  
Suddenly, Sheba's ears twitched. Lily looked up at the window – and saw it. A tree near the forest was swinging violently. Suddenly, a large branch fell off the top of the tree, and everything went still again.  
  
For a fleeting second, Lily was oddly reminded of another boy in her year, Remus. He, like Lily, was a prefect. In fact, he seemed like a perfectly nice boy, if you didn't count who he hanged around with. Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and worst of all - James Potter. If Peter Pettigrew was annoying, James Potter was 100 times worse. Lily's hand clenched at the thought of him. She remembered one day this year asking Remus why he hung around with such fools. His answer was nothing more than a mouthful of mumbles, and then he disappeared from behind a book.  
  
Lily yawned, and slowly crept into bed, wishing more than anything something would happen to her - something exiting. Little did she know, that her wish was to be granted for her, many, many times.  
  
The next morning, Lily awoke to find all the girls in her doritary gone except for her friend, Sarah. No matter - all the girls in her dorm would always hurry up to go visit their Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff boyfriends before breakfast. Lily was actually quite glad she didn't have a boyfriend - freezing outside at 5AM to watch another House practice quidditch was not her idea of fun. Sarah was snoring lightly, like she always did. Lily didn't bother waking her - she knew Sarah liked to sleep in on Saturdays.  
  
The redheaded girl quickly dressed, and then decided to do something fun with her hair, seeing as how she had time this morning. Separating her hair into two parts, Lily braided each section, then emerged from her dormitory.  
  
Peeking down the staircase, Lily rolled her eyes in annoyance. James Potter and Sirius Black were down by the portrait, amusing a couple of first years. Lily bit her lip, then hurried down the staircase. If she just walked quickly with her head bent, maybe they wouldn't notice her and -  
  
"Hey Evans! I like your hair! What gave you the idea to make it even more frizzy?"  
  
Lily, panicking inside, kept her head bent and then pushed out the portrait, hurrying away. Her bright green eyes stung with tears. Why couldn't that boy just leave her alone? She never talked to him!  
  
Lily hurried down to breakfast, nearly tripping over a staircase. Once down in the Great Hall, she hurried towards the Griffindor table. Lily sat down, and saw that Remus Lupin was seated opposite her. He gave her a wry smile, just before James slid in next to him.  
  
Lily was shocked. Had James followed her all the way down? Lily, practicing her usual routine, kept her eyes on her plate, never looking up once. She could, however, hear James boasting about quidditch loudly to Remus.  
  
Just when Lily had finished her rather -filling- meal, (half of an unbuttered roll) she thought she had gotten away, but as she was standing up, James loudly asked,  
  
"Hey Evans! Will you go out with me?"  
  
Face burning, Lily ran towards the Entrance Hall.  
  
Lily had just gotten to the doors, and might have made it too, if she hadn't bumped into someone. With tears clouding her vision, she looked into the face of Sirius Black. But clearly his mind wasn't set on her. He was staring at another person exiting the hall. A greasy haired, hook nosed someone.  
  
"Hi Snivellus!" Sirius called out.  
  
Lily had had enough. Bursting into a full set of tears, she ran up the marble staircase. Her voice wailing off corridors, Lily ran, not knowing where she was going. Her head bent, eyes streaming, so you quite understand why Lily screamed when someone grabbed her around the shoulders and pulled her in.  
  
"Lily, it's me," a calming voice said.  
  
Lily sniffed. Sarah's brown eyes and messy blonde hair came into view.  
  
"Lets go up to our dorm and talk." She said softly. Lily nodded and wiped her eyes.  
  
Half an hour later, Lily was surrounded by what every freshly humiliated girl could want. After ten minutes of consoling, Sarah had disappeared and then arrived back with a proper breakfast for Lily, and a report that the Marauders were currently in the common room, minding their own business.  
  
Lily was in such a bad state that, as Sarah later said, it was no wonder she was looking so poorly.  
  
Lily stayed ill all Sunday. When Monday rolled around, Sarah recommended going to the hospital wing, but Lily refused.  
  
For the next week, Lily was careful to avoid the Mauruders, especially James. She kept her head down and studied, glad it was the last week before Christmas break. However, that Friday night, James struck again.  
  
He had just been showing off by catching a snitch for the entire night. Very peeved, Lily closed her copy of The Standard Book of Spells: Grade Six and was just heading to the dormitories when James called out,  
  
"Hey Evans! Evans!"  
  
Heads turned in the Griffindor common room; they were eager to see what would happen after last time.  
  
"Lils!" James had ran over, the snitch zooming over his head.  
  
"Don't you ever call me 'Lils'" Lily said, her voice shaky but confident.  
  
James choose to ignore that comment.  
  
"Listen, I'm just heading out for the hols, and I'd like to-"  
  
"Oh leaving to rich mummy and daddies' house are we?" Lily said mockingly.  
  
James looked extremely taken aback. His eyes were wide, his mouth a straight line. Lily couldn't stand it; that stupid face of his, looking so dumb, looking so... so...  
  
Lily was actually shocked when it happened, even she let out a small scream.  
  
Her hand flew up to James' face, and she slapped him hard. After it, Lily came back to her senses.  
  
"Merry Christmas." She snarled, and then stormed up the girls staircase.  
  
She had just gotten to the top when the stone steps melted into a slide. Hopping smartly, she slammed the dormitory door shut after her. 


	2. Christmas

"Lil! Wake up Lily!"  
  
Sarah's voice awoke Lily from sleep. She opened her eyes to see a smiling Sarah standing there.  
  
"Its Christmas! Happy Christmas Lil!"  
  
That woke Lily up. She immediately began to jump on her bed, shouting,  
  
"Chirstmas! Its Christmas! It's finally here!"  
  
Sarah joined her. They began jumping and dancing atop the bed, as was the girls tradition.  
  
Lily could hear some first years join both of them several floors below. That was how the tradition got passed on from generation to generation.  
  
Falling into a giggling heap, Sarah and Lilly eyed each of their pile of presents. Soon wrapping paper was floating in the air, and Christmas cards were starting to line up bureau tops.  
  
"-Look, Mum and Dad got me Belgium chocolates-"  
  
"-Oh thanks Sarah, did you make it yourself?"  
  
"-I can't believe my brother got that for me-"  
  
"-Wha? Oh!"  
  
Lily's voice had interrupted Sarah's examining of a Subscription Card to the Daily Prophet.  
  
Lilly had just ripped the brown packaging paper off an oddly shaped gift. Inside was a beautiful bottle of colored perfume, complete with spray handle. Illegible french words were carved into the glass, bordered in by a rose stem perimeter. Lily test sprayed a bit into the air - it smelled wonderful.  
  
"Wow Lil! Who gave you that gift?" Sarah exclaimed, picking up the perfume.  
  
"Amazing, Lils, look! Notice the bottom? 'Made in Paris' - Ooh!"  
  
Sarah had almost dropped the perfume, but Lily quickly grabbed it back.  
  
"Wonder who sent it." She muttered.  
  
"Well, it's obvious isn't it? James Potter sent that to you Lily - and it must of cost him some galleons, too."  
  
Lily stared in awe at the delicate french words frosted onto the glass.  
  
Lily devoured another chocolate. She and Sarah had cleaned off the Belgium chocolates already up in the common room, and now the girls were enjoying more at Christmas Dinner in the Great Hall.  
  
The perfume bottle lay on Lily's dresser, hidden away by a stack of cards, forgotten for now. Sarah had already assured her that it was James who sent it to her, but Lily believed that that couldn't be possible if the last time she saw him he had ended up with a red face.  
  
After the Christmas feast, Lily marched back upstairs. She only remembered about the perfume when she opened the dormitory door to get her schoolbag.  
  
Lily sprayed some more again. It had a flowery, yet bold scent. Had James really sent it? Did this mean he really liked her? Lily twirled around, feeling quite fluttery.  
  
Lily's light headedness lasted all throughout out the Holiday break. When the rest of the school arrived on Monday, Lily couldn't wait to see James.  
  
After last period, Lily was walking up to Griffindor Tower, James right in front of her. Lily knew this trick; she'd seen other girls play it before.  
  
Hurrying up the stairs, Lily passed James, then tripped on the last step.  
  
"Oops!" Lily cried. She dropped her books, then went toppling back into James. He actually caught her.  
  
For the first time, Lily was in James' arms. He felt warm and comfy. She could hear him inhale.  
  
"Hey, watch yourself there, Lily. If I hadn't caught you, who knows where'd you'd have landed?" James asked, pushing her back to the top step.  
  
Suddenly, it all came back to Lily. She was reminded of James, of the real James, the stupid, head-in-the-cloud James. The boy who would show off by playing with a snitch, ruffling his hair. The boy who would always smile and look at the seventh - year girls. THAT was James.  
  
Lily sniffed. She couldn't believe how fool she had been. For once in her life, she had actually believed-........  
  
Lily started to sniff. She ran down the corridor, sniffing, wiping her eyes continually. She could hear James calling after her, but she didn't care. Lily couldn't believe that only a few seconds before, she had been in James' arms, and perfectly content.  
  
James was having a hard time believing that he had just held Lily Evans. Ever since first year, he had had a crush on her, one that couldn't be taken away by another girl......and yet when she stumbled down the stairs, who was there to help her? Him. It could only be fate. Fate that they were meant to be together. But yet, she never appreciated him. No matter how much he tried to amuse her it never worked. He knew other girls enjoyed his silly antics, his ability to make them laugh. Yet Lily didn't. She was always tucked up in a corner of the common room, studying furiously, or talking with her friend. No matter how hard he tried, James just couldn't seem to get to Lily. Not even when he sent her that anonymous perfume, which James thought was entirely romantic but a bit out of line, even for him. How could she have gone for all these years but not have gotten the slightest clue?  
  
These thoughts were all running through his head as James entered the Library, a rare place in which to spot the messy haired boy.  
  
Sirius, Peter, and Remus were all at a table in the middle of the library. Remus had three essays in front of him; he appeared to be re-writing all of them. Sirius was sitting atop the table, Peter looking excitedly over his shoulder.  
  
"Hey, James. Saw your little run-in with the lady." Sirius said, pointing to moving, magical map with his wand.  
  
"Yeah." Replied James gruffly, adding his own essay to the pile in front of Remus.  
  
"Well, how did it go?" asked Peter.  
  
Even Remus stopped writing as James told his tale. In the end, he showed them all the books he had collected from the foot of the stairs - all labelled neatly with the name Lily Evans on them.  
  
"Excellent." Sirius said, grinning as he flipped through the page of one. All the Marauders were grinning rather evilly by now, even Remus. When Siruis had a plan, they knew it was going to be good. 


	3. The Room of Darkness

Lily was walking down the hallway that very same evening. It was quite late at night, and she was bored doing her Prefect duties. She had just turned a corner, figuring to go up to bed now, when she heard a strange whispering.  
  
Lily snapped straight around. No-one was in sight, yet she could still hear the whispering. Lily took a step closer. She noticed a jar adjacent to her right. She pulled it open. Nobody was in there, except for a desk at the back of the dark room.  
  
Wait - Lily pushed the door open wider - Her books were lying on that table! The ones she had dropped when she fell on James! Lily had just stepped over the threshold of the room when she remembered.  
  
Lily listened closer to the whispering. This was just one a James' stupid pranks.  
  
"Stop it James, or I'll report you." Lily said clearly. The whispering stopped. Satisfied, Lily hurried in the dark room and scooped up her books.  
  
Just then, the door she had entered slammed shut.  
  
Lily looked around. More angry than frightened at the moment, she marched back to the door.  
  
"James! James you open this stupid door up right now!" She yelled, pounding the door.  
  
Silence. James must've run away by now.  
  
Lily huffed, then turned around to stare at the room in front of her.  
  
There was only one small window up at the top of the wall. Lily took a few deep breaths. She wasn't scared of the dark. No, she would just wait for someone to walk around, and hear her.  
  
Lily slid down to sit down. Suddenly, a loud voice whispered, "Leave!"  
  
Lily was quite sure it wasn't James.  
  
James turned around and smirked as Sirius and Peter clambered into the common room after him.  
  
"Did you operate your plan?" Remus asked stiffly from behind a book.  
  
"Oh yea," James said excitedly.  
  
"You should've heard her, Moony," Sirius said, then put on a high - pitched voice.  
  
"James? Where are you James? Oh James, I'll report you!"  
  
"James? Are you there James? James, I'm going to report you!"  
  
Peter laughed  
  
"And we locked Lily in that shadowy room in the Charms Hallway-"  
  
"What?!" Remus had jumped up from his seat.  
  
"Yea, clever isn't it?"  
  
"Not really, James!" Remus said. "That's the Room of Darkness!"  
  
"Don't sweat it, I'm gonna rescue her in half an hour, acting all like the Hero, she can't not fall for that!"  
  
"Prongs, don't you see? The room of darkness? Binns talked about it last week!"  
  
Remus received three blank stares.  
  
"Look," Moony said, rolling his eyes,  
  
"A room of Darkness, there's at least one in a lot of magical buildings. Its a room where all the bad and hurt thoughts students have go to! So many pile up it turns into one life form! Lily's in big trouble!"  
  
Lily looked around frightenly. She was hearing voices, she was sure of it, something was trying to talk to her-  
  
"Leave now." The voice said.  
  
"I can't leave, I'm locked in!" Lily cried.  
  
Tears started to run down the young girl's face.  
  
"Leeeeaaavvveeee......"  
  
"I CAN'T!"  
  
Lily started sobbing; she pushed herself in a corner and held her knees. Silence elapsed for a minute before -  
  
"Go away, you Muuuuudddbloooood...."  
  
Lily screamed. A strong force hit her chest; her heart stopped. Lily was screaming inside, 'No! No, leave me be.......'  
  
She took a few deep breaths. A few more, and then she ran over to the window. Only one other object was in the room, a tall wardrobe. Its doors were shaking violently.  
  
Lily screamed - another strange force was beating her back, throwing her down onto the cold stone floor. Pain seared up through her legs, from which her feet had stood on the ground.  
  
"Sarah!"  
  
The four Marauders were by Lily's best friends side, shaking her awake. Apparently she had dozed off reading a large book that took up half of her armchair.  
  
"Wha-" Sarah said. The last thing she expected to see were all four Marauders, each looking extremely worried.  
  
"Lily-" James exclaimed,  
  
"She's locked in the Room of Darkness-"  
  
Sarah screamed. A few Griffindors turned to stare at her.  
  
"How did she get there?" Sarah asked.  
  
Remus glanced pointedly at James and Sirius.  
  
"Never mind how she got there-" James said impatiently,  
  
"The important thing is we get her out!"  
  
Sarah was up and out of the Common room like a bullet, The Mauruders hurrying behind her.  
  
The only thing, James worried, was getting there in time, before the darkness swallowed poor Lily up.  
  
Sarah stopped - Filch was prowling the next corridor.  
  
"What are we going to do?" mouthed Sarah.  
  
"Even Filch wouldn't believe a student was stupid enough to lock themselves in the Room of Darkness." Remus said.  
  
"We'll have to take the long way, Moony-"  
  
"I always meant to ask you why you called each other those silly names," Sarah mentioned as they were running past the Library.  
  
All Marauders ignored her. 


	4. Heavy Matters

"Sarah?" Lily sniffed,  
  
"Sarah, are you out there?"  
  
Lily was lying, curled up in a ball on the cold stone floor. She coughed. It was quite dusty in here. No-one had been in here for a long time.  
  
"Gooo......." The voice said. The voice was getting stronger every time it told Lily to leave.  
  
"I can't, the doors locked!" Lily said hopelessly. The voice never listened.  
  
"Leave noooow." The voice said, right in Lily's ear. It had whispered this time, but it felt like it was right beside her.  
  
"I'd like to, but I can't!" Lily said through tears.  
  
Suddenly, Lily was half picked up and, like a giant hand was throwing her away, she was thrown across the room, and banged into the door. Lily screamed. She quickly got up, her body getting limp. The frightened girl ran towards the little patch of moonlight in the room, and lay down again.  
  
James was running very fast, he felt like he was playing a quidditch match without a brromstick; he had to get to Lily, he just had to-  
  
"James! Slow down! This is it!"  
  
James ran over to the door he had just locked ten minutes earlier.  
  
Fumbling around with the knob, he finally gave up.  
  
"Lily!" He yelled, banging on the door.  
  
"Lily, are you in there?"  
  
James put his ear to the door; he couldn't hear anything.  
  
"Can she hear us?" James asked Remus. He shrugged.  
  
James just realized that one of their rescue party members were missing.  
  
"Where's Wormtail?" He asked his friends.  
  
"We lost him a few hallways back." Sirius said.  
  
"He was out of breath, I think he fainted." Sarah added.  
  
"Well, it's his fault he can't run up a staircase without taking a break -"  
  
"Sh!"  
  
James thoguht he could hear something coming from inside. He fumbled with the latch and lock again, but it wouldn't budge.  
  
"It's - stuck-" James grunted.  
  
"Well, it wouldn't have been oiled for a long time-" Remus started,  
  
"Moony, Shut up! Lily is in there, we have to get her out!" James yelled, furiously kicking the door.  
  
Sarah was shocked. Why was James suddenly caring so much about Lily? He didn't like her, he couldn't, always teasing her, then insulting her-  
  
Sarah turned wide eyed to Sirius and Remus, but neither of them were looking the least bit surprised.  
  
"James, cool it, we can get her out, we'll just go to McGonagall-"  
  
Sirius stopped mid-sentence. If they told one of the teachers, they would surely be expelled.  
  
James stopped kicking at the door long enough to pant,  
  
"We're going to get her out of there, pronto."  
  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX  
  
Lily took several deep breaths. It was freezing in here, the walls seemed to be closing in on her -  
  
"Leeeeeaaaavvveeee." The voice commanded.  
  
Lily didn't even bother to reply, she just closed her eyes and wished that someome would get her out of here. James' face came to mind. Lily moaned. Even him would be a good rescuer.  
  
Lily was spread out on the floor, her body limp. She took several icy breaths. Her body shook in pain. Then Lily finally fainted.  
  
James wiped the sweat off his forehead. The three Mauruders and Sarah had just tried to open the door, everything from alohamora to trying to remove it's hinges. Nothing worked. During the hinge removel plan, Sarah had gotten into a little tiff with Sirius.  
  
They had snapped at each other for a good two minutes before Remus and James called it off. Now Sarah was giving mean looks towards Sirius, him glaring back. James would've found it all quite funny and have made a few good jokes by now if Lily wasn't in Mortal Danger.  
  
He had now gone back to kicking the door, though he knew he couldn't be too loud, so as not to draw attention to the Charms Corrider.  
  
Now everyone was exahasuted, but James wasn't giving up his kicking spiel. Sarah, who had tried a good number of charms to make the door open, had now resolved to curses. She was pointing her wand at the door, shouting furious hexes. Sirius was watching her from the floor with a slightly amused interest, his chin resting on his hands. Remus was leaning against the wall, staring at the door intently. James didn't see how staring at it would make it open.  
  
Finally, James dropped to the ground. His ear was right next to the milimeter opening, when he heard something. Not daring to breath, he listened closely. He heard a moan - it sounded like Lily.  
  
"Lily! Are you Okay?" James shouted under the door.  
  
Silence.  
  
Suddenly, like a great burst of inspiration, James shot up faster than lightning. All three adolceents were on his heels as he speed up back to Griffindor Tower.  
  
"Where are we going?" Siruis asked.  
  
"To rescue Lily." James replied firmly.  
  
James fummed around with his trunk lock. Finally, it snapped open. Digging through his dirty clothes, he found three useful poessesions. Grabbing them, he rushed back down to the Griffindor Common room. It was nearly empty.  
  
Sarah gasped when he came closer.  
  
"Oh, God, James. You don't have a-"  
  
"Shhhh," James whispered.  
  
"I solemly swear I am up to no good."  
  
The Mauruders map was shoved into Sirus's hands. James shuffled around a bit, then his body dissapered.  
  
"Even with the map, its especially important we not get caught. If you guys get it, I'll still go on." A voice said out of thin air.  
  
Sarah gulped. Sirius and Remus looked as though they had done this a thousand times, which, Sarah reminded herself as the climbed out of the portrait, they probably had.  
  
Running along the seventh floor, Sarah expected them to turn left, but instead they asended a staircase. Jogging along a few more passageways, Sarah realized this as the way to the North Tower.  
  
They arrived at a point which lead to no-where - a steep wooden staircase was moving slowly towards them.  
  
"C'mon," James muttered from somewhere. Sirius was more interested in other matters.  
  
"Where are ya, mate?" He said jokingly, "I can only hear your footsteps -"  
  
Sarah gave a small shriek - she had just seen a pair of feet stumble on the bottom step of the staircase.  
  
"He's already climbing up." Sarah said. Remus, Sirius and Sarah waited for the staircase to fully stop at the landing before proceeding.  
  
Finally, they arrived at the door which lead to the top of the north tower. Sarah opened the door first - and got a headful of freezing air.  
  
"Its the middle of Janurary, no cloaks, what are we doing here?" Sarah asked. James had just reappered, though he seemed not minded by the cold.  
  
"How can you guys think about your own skins when Lily's in trouble?" James shouted.  
  
"I'm sure shes not that bad -" Sirius started, but was cut off by Remus.  
  
"Well, look who's taking a midnight walk and critisizing us about our own skins." Sirius added as an after thought.  
  
James was now getting on the other thing he had dragged with him from Griffindor Tower - his bromstick.  
  
"Way to go, James!" Sarah shouted gleefully. Now she was sure her friend would be okay.  
  
"The Room should be just a few levels below here!" Remus shouted as James' head dissapered from view.  
  
Sarah sighed happily, then went to sit next to Remus, Sirius scowling at her. 


	5. The Rescue

James hovered a bit closer and peered inside the window. No, it was just a regular classroom, he could see the silver of a ghost drifting across it.  
  
He swooped down another level. James squinted - no. He started speeding up, passing the windows. No, No, No, - wait. He had just missed a smaller, higher up window. He rode right up to it. He moved closer until he was leaning against the pane of glass. It was very hard to see in there, it was quite dark - and then he saw her. Lily.  
  
She looked like a defeated angel, crestfallen. Her limp figure was sprawled out on the floor, red hair waving out in all directions. She wasn't moving. James chocked on his breath - Lily. How could he get in there?  
  
After some quick thinking, James did a stupid but brave thing. 50 feet up in the air, he grabbed onto the ledge of another window, then used his broomstick handle to smash open the window. Hoping he didn't hurt Lily, he flew through, then landed in the room.  
  
Once in the room, the temperature dropped - it was colder than it was outside. James ran over to Lily - she was out cold and freezing. James paused to stare at Lily's pale face.  
  
Her red hair was shocking against her white skin, her lips blue. Lily's blue blouse and grey knee skirt made her look like a frozen angel, preserved in time. James, not thinking clearly, bent down and kissed her blue lips. He realized she had been crying, and when he picked Lily up, a forgotten tear ran down her cheek.  
  
"Leave Muuuuuuuddddblloooooooodd,"  
  
James froze. Was Lily listening to all this while she was locked in here? Suddenly James became even more worried. He felt like he shouldn't be here, in the Room of Darkness.  
  
"Don't worry, she's leaving," James said as he tried to mount his broom with no hands, carrying Lily.  
  
"Sheee allllreaddyyy haaaaasss...."  
  
James froze. What did that voice mean, she already had left? He looked down at Lily's body. She had several cuts on her neck, and a bad gash on her shoulders. James put his head down to her chest. He couldn't hear anything. Panicking, James manouvered his broom up to the window. It would be a tight squeeze - he would most likely get cut by shards of glass.  
  
"Hello? Is anyone in there?" James recognized Peter's voice. He knew that Wormtail was just 15 feet away, on the opposite side of the door, but his weak voice sounded distant.  
  
"Leeeeeaavveeeee,"  
  
James ignored the voice.  
  
"Hang on, Lily," He whispered.  
  
James swooped up the North Tower.  
  
"James?" Lily's eyes fluttered wildly.  
  
James's heart flew madly.  
  
"Its going to be okay, Lily," James said gruffly. Lily took a shallow breath and snuggled deeper to James' warm body.  
  
James flew up to the top of the tower. There Sirius, Remus, and a crying Sarah were waiting for him. James quickly dismounted.  
  
"She's breathing, but only just," Sarah said,  
  
"I've never seen her this bad before."  
  
We have to get her to the hospital wing." said Remus.  
  
Even James knew there was no fooling around; Lily needed serious medical care.  
  
"Wait!" Sarah cried.  
  
After performing some sixth - year magic to Lily, Sarah topped it off by producing a hot steam coming from her wand, pointed at Lily's chest.  
  
"How did she get those cuts on her?" Sarah asked as they were hurrying down to the Hospital wing.  
  
James shrugged; both of his arms were occupied by holding Lily. He didn't seem to want to let her go, though it worried him inside each time Lily took a slow, shallow breath.  
  
Finally, they arrived at the hospital wing. James went to open the door, but it was locked.  
  
"Dammit!" He cried. Even Sirius and Remus were looking extremely grave.  
  
"What are we going to do?"  
  
Sarah's voice rang out, "Madam Clare! Madam Clare, its an emergency!"  
  
And suddenly, by some miracle, the door opened.  
  
The Hogwarts matron, Madam Clare, was looking extremely annoyed when she opened the door in her nightdress, but her face fell when she saw Lily.  
  
"Right in here, children. Now lay her on that hospital bed and tell me everything that happened while I work."  
  
All four teenagers walked into the Hospital Wing with extremely solemn faces. 


	6. Healing and Confrontations

Lily had been staring at a plain white wall when Madam Clare walked in.  
  
"Oh, thank heavens child, I thought you'd never wake!" Madam Clare said cheerfully. Humming a happy tune, she began stirring and mixing a number of potions beside Lily's bed.  
  
Lily tried to speak, but it felt like her mouth was glued shut. She concentrated hard on what happened. She had been tortured, experienced severe pain - and then James' face came into her mind, a loving, caring face.  
  
"Well, I suppose you want to know what happened." Madam Clare said briskly.  
  
"Now, we don't now the first part, you'll have to tell us that, but based on the circumstances, your friend Sarah has not been dealt any punishment except 20 points from Griffindor - for extreme stupidity when it was clear a teacher should have been involved. Your -ah- classmates, however, didn't get away so lucky."  
  
Here Madam Clare paused to gently lift Lily's mouth open, then pour the potion in. Handing her a large slab of chocolate, Madam Clare sat down on the bed next to her.  
  
"Now, of course the Headmaster doesn't want you to explain your tale until you're ready - who would you prefer talking to? Me? Sarah? A teacher, perhaps?"  
  
"James," Lily found herself saying.  
  
"James?" Madam Clare repeated.  
  
"Oh, no dear, you must be confused, James is the one who -"  
  
"I mean," Lily interrupted, "I would like to speak to James first, please."  
  
"Are you sure? Not Sarah? She's been in here day in, day out....."  
  
"No. How long have I been in here?" Lily wondered.  
  
"A week," Madam Clare replied, "And I was just going to ask the Headmaster if a stronger revitalizing spell could be tried on you-"  
  
Lily tried to move the chocolate toward her mouth, but found she was heavily bandaged.  
  
"Are you sure you want to talk to James?" Madam Clare asked again.  
  
Lily nodded.  
  
"I'll send him in them," Madam clare muttered, "Honestly, he's been waiting outside the Hospital wing, Dumbledore won't let him in, of course, his friends seemed to be playing a joke on him when they moved a chair beside the door -"  
  
Just then, James walked in, and started to run towards Lily.  
  
"Lily!" James cried. He was by her bedside in a second.  
  
"Potter, don't you dare touch that young lady. If you do-"  
  
"Madam Clare," Lily inturupted, "Can we have some private time?"  
  
Madam Clare looked shocked.  
  
"Five minutes," She said stiffly,  
  
"I'll be in my office."  
  
Lily waited for the tap-tap of her high heels to disappear before turning to James. He looked pretty close to tears from relief.  
  
"Honestly, Lily, a week? Don't ever do that -"  
  
"What happened James? Why did you do that?"  
  
"Lily, you have to believe me, I didn't know that it was the Room of Darkness."  
  
"Oh thats what it's called? Well, I sort of figured out it wasn't an ordinary room when-"  
  
"Lily, I didn't know, -"  
  
"I don't care if you didn't know, James. See all these cuts on me? See this hospital bed I'm in? You caused that James. You and some cocky idea."  
  
James bit his lip. She was right, all fingers were pointing at him. But then, didn't she remember-"  
  
"You know what else I caused, Lily? I caused your life to be saved. If it weren't for me, you'd be dead."  
  
This was Lily's turn to feel the guilt. He was right. Lily thought some more, then asked,  
  
"Will you start from the beginning?"  
  
Here James started from his idea of the beginning.  
  
"I was the one who sent you that perfume, Lily. I was so glad of myself, my awesome idea, how it couldn't go wrong. But then, when I got back to school I realized how hard it would be for me to admit it to you. I started looking for dramatic opportunities. When you feel down the stairs I wanted to start of conversation - a real one - but then you ran off. I picked up the books you had dropped, and realized it was a hopeless situation until Sirius suggested an idea. I ran into the first room I saw in the Charms corrider, quickly placed your books on a desk at then back, then ran out. It was Me, Sirius and Peter who had done that whispering."  
  
"But," Lily asked, "How come I couldn't see you?"  
  
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," James said, and Lily felt like she wouldn't believe any story of how James was invisible.  
  
James continued on,  
  
"Then I shut the door and locked it. We ran off. Now all we had to do is wait for a while, then I could open the door for you, and act like the hero, admitting to you that I - I sent you the perfume.  
  
"The plan was going great, until Remus told us that you were in the Room of Darkness. We ran back down there and tried to open the door, but nothing worked. I couldn't hear you, Lily. I was" -Here James found it especially hard to admit his feelings -"I was scared. Then I came up with an idea. I grabbed my broomstick, and ran up to the North Tower. I flew down to the small window of the room of darkness, and I broke in. Once inside, I heard this chilling voice. It sounded like it was all around me. I felt pain shoot up through my legs - and I realized that this is what you must have been experiencing. Because of me, you were hurt and nearly dead."  
  
"What did the voice say?" Lily asked in a whisper.  
  
"It said, 'go away mudblood', and that you were already dead." James replied. He realized it must of hurt Lily to be called a Mudblood. 


	7. Injuries

"But.....you rescued me." Lily whispered.  
  
"Thats right. I picked you up and flew us back to the top of the North Tower. Then we rushed down to the Hospital Wing."  
  
Lily had closed her eyes again; she looked like she was in deep thought.  
  
"So you almost killed me, then saved my life," She said.  
  
"What would say that what you did was braver? Rescue me, or admit that you had locked me in the Room of Darkness as a joke?"  
  
"Rescue you, of course," James said, "Once I saw what you had been going through, I became worried."  
  
"James, I don't know if what you're telling me is the truth. I don't know if you're just big-headed, or you really have changed. All I know right now is I want you to leave."  
  
James obeyed the confused redhead, and let himself out.  
  
Lily was having a very difficult week. Sarah had confirmed that James was telling the truth and that she was as mystified as Lily. Why the sudden change of heart? Lily chose to ignore the Great Mystery of Men, and concentrated on leaving the hospital wing. Her cuts still were painful whenever Madam Clare took the bandages off, and Lily doubted that she would get to leave the hospital wing while she was taking no less than five potions a day. Madam Clare handed Lily a brick of chocolate every hour, and Lily was starting to get sick because of it.  
  
The long hours Lily spent in her bed were the most boring, even with ten pounds of homework to keep her happy. Lily was itching to get out of the Hospital Wing, and to solve the mystery put at hand, especially if James had deflated his head. But Madam Clare had locked Lily in for almost twice the time she had been asleep.  
  
Finally, one late sunny January afternoon, Lily walked out of the Hospital Wing with only half the bandages she had started with, and strict orders from Madam Clare to come to the Hospital wing at 4 o clock every day to take her potion.  
  
Lily walked into the Griffindor Common room with a bang. (Sarah had told her the new password earlier that day.) Some fellow Griffindors jumped up to hug her. Lily noticed the four maurders squeezed into a corner. For once, they weren't the centre of attention.  
  
Lily spent the rest of the evening talking and laughing with the sixth year girls and fifth years. She wouldn't give out too many details about her 'accident': only that she had been locked in the Room of Darkness, but had managed to get out.  
  
Finally, Lily marched off to bed. She was careful not to look in the Marauders direction.  
  
The next day, Lily rushed down to the Great Hall with Sarah. After grabbing some bacon, they ran off to their first class, Transfiguation.  
  
Lily arrived just in time. She took her usual seat in the front, next to Remus. They rarley talked, but when Lily saw his face, she gave a loud gasp.  
  
Across his face, starting somewhere from his left eyebrow all the way down his right cheek, was a huge gash. Remus smiled at Lily, making his face look even more painful.  
  
"Remus -" Lily started, "How - How did you -"  
  
"Don't worry," Remus interrupted, "Madam Clare says thickened Murtlap essence on it won't give me a scar."  
  
"No...." Lily stumbled, "How did you get it?"  
  
"Oh......" Remus's face fell,  
  
"I....just got into a fight with some Hufflepuff....."  
  
"No you didn't," Lily confirmed,  
  
"It looks like you got into a fight with some.....some animal....."  
  
Remus's face fell even more, and Lily was sure he about to make a rude comment back if McGonagall didn't start class right then.  
  
Lily turned in her seat. The rest of the class looked shocked, too, except.....except for Peter, Sirius, and James, sitting at the back of the class. They looked a bit more concerened than shocked.  
  
But wait.....this was the beginning of the day! How could they know what happened to him so quickly? Surely they wouldn't have believed his cock and bull story about a fight with a Hufflepuff......that means they must have been there when it happened and known the real truth! Lily gasped when the thought came to her head......what if they were the ones who caused it? Well, it didn't sound so far-fetched when you remembered that Lily had those three Marauders to thank when she got locked in the Room of Darkness....  
  
Lily turned back into her seat, proud she had solved that mystery. And just when she thought James had grown up.....those injuries must have impaired her thinking. She made a mental note to bring Remus's injury up with Dumbledore when they discussed Peter, Sirius, and James's punishment concerning the room of darkness.  
  
"Hello, Miss Evans. Please take a seat."  
  
Lily sat down in an emerald green armchair. She stared expectantly at Dumbledore. After some while, Lily decided to speak up.  
  
"Well, I suppose you want to know what happened to me in the Room of-"  
  
"I know very well what happens to a person in the Room of Darkness," Dumbledore said softly.  
  
Lily closed her mouth again. Dumbledore opened his.  
  
"What I would like to discuss with you right now is concerning James', Sirius', Peters, and Remus' punishment. We will have to take all matters of account into hand. Unfortunately, I have only heard one side of the story, and that is the part about James rescuing you. And believe me, I have heard it many, many times."  
  
Dumbledore had a twinkle in his eyes.  
  
"But professor, why should Remus have a punishment?" Lily questioned.  
  
"I believe he had news of the prank before it had happened. Though he took no part in it, he could have confessed to a teacher what his three friends were up to."  
  
"But professor, when the Marauders get a plan, there's no stopping them-"  
  
"We must take all matters of account into hand."  
  
Lily took advantage of the long silence to think. Finally, she came up with a good defence for Remus.  
  
"Professor, Sarah said that James said that Remus said," -Dumbledore smiled- "That Remus didn't know they were locking me into the Room of Darkness." Lily was about to add that James, Peter, and Sirius didn't know where they were locking her either, but Lily choose to leave it out.  
  
"Very well, then. I suppose Remus should be granted the same punishment as Sarah, even though he knew what the pranksters were doing beforehand. Twenty points from Griffindor."  
  
Lily could almost hear the rubies shooting around in their hourglass, even from Dumbledore's office.  
  
"Professor, while we're on the subject of Remus-"  
  
"I'm afraid I can not tell you that Lily. You may feel sorry for Remus, but it is very private, and no student should know."  
  
Lily stopped. Then how did the other three Marurders know?  
  
"Now, Lily, tell me how you were lured into the Room of Darkness." 


End file.
